Lauren joined the Planetree Global Patient and Family Partnership Council (Global PFPC) in 2025. Her interest in patient partnership began the hard way. A years-long journey to diagnoses of narcolepsy and other chronic illnesses in the early 2000s taught her firsthand how challenging it can be to navigate fragmented healthcare while trying to make sense of symptoms, treatment options, and next steps.
In 2011, that experience became her professional focus as she moved into national consumer and patient engagement roles, helping patients and advocates gain a seat at the table where decisions are made and ensuring their input leads to meaningful change.
Over the past 20 years, Lauren has developed practical approaches to co-design, stakeholder engagement, governance, and measurement that make progress visible, supporting large-scale initiatives across sectors. Her work has included initiatives reaching more than 8.9 million Veterans and the development of tools adopted by more than 100 organizations to strengthen inclusive participation in research.
Lauren has held leadership roles in consumer engagement and quality improvement and has a particular interest in pediatric and maternal health, especially where family-centered care must work in real-world settings.
She lives in the Washington, DC metropolitan area with her partner and their two daughters, where they "field-test" the local healthcare system more often than anyone would like, including her sleep schedule.
